


green

by orphan_account



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Aftermath of Violence, Angst, Brightheart Has PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Cavetown, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Green - Cavetown, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Major Character Injury, Minor Blood and Gore, Past Character Death, Song: Green (Cavetown), Songfic, StarClan (Warriors), Swiftpaw Has PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, The Prophecies Begin: Book 5: A Dangerous Path, implied gore, takes place vaguely after all the stuff at snakerocks went down
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27353038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Swiftpaw visits Snakerocks shortly after the battle that took place there and reflects on his and Brightpaw's relationship.
Relationships: Brightheart/Cloudtail (Warriors), Brightheart/Swiftpaw (Warriors)
Kudos: 5





	1. I see your eyes in the flowers

**Author's Note:**

> I've been primarily writing in Steven Universe so far on ao3, but I've actually been writing in Warriors for much longer! I found this old fic in my wips and decided to finish it up!  
> First post with this pseud, and first posted fic in this fandom.
> 
> Warnings: discussion of Swiftpaw's death and description of Brightpaw's injury.  
> Nothing too major, which is why I didn't use the archive warnings, and I'm guessing anyone who clicks on this will know what to expect.

A small creek babbled through a narrow channel where, less than a moon earlier, a battle had taken place. 

I walked across the eerily familiar clearing, surrounded by menacing rocks. Looking for a better view of the clearing, I climbed up one of the gray boulders. I wasn’t afraid of being seen. It was too late for that. From up here, I could see the trampled earth and rusty bloodstains that had yet to weather away. I shuddered, remembering the feeling of the dogs tearing me apart before my spirit was able to finally slip away to StarClan, but leaving _her_ alone. Tears rolled down my face as I thought of Brightpaw, the beautiful apprentice I’d lost it all to save. I jumped down from the rock and began the familiar path through the woods to ThunderClan camp.

Fireheart was leaving the leader’s den; the vines that hid the entrance trailed along his back as he walked out from the small cave that had been washed out by an ancient creek. _He must have been meeting with Bluestar_ , I thought. I followed him curiously across the camp. We walked through the fern tunnel that led to the medicine cat den, and I caught a familiar scent on the breeze: _Brightpaw!_ I ran ahead of Firestar, past the marigolds and irises lining the mossy clearing. As I reached the split boulder where Cinderpelt’s den was, I slowed. I could smell another cat. As I poked my head inside the medicine den, I saw Cloudtail lying down next to Brightpaw. My anger at him stealing her from me quickly evaporated when I saw the condition Brightpaw was in. From the angle I’d entered, I could only see half of her face, but as I walked around the narrow den, I gasped. My beloved Brightpaw had a mess of bloody cobwebs and herbs covering one side of her face. Through the gaps in the poultice I could make out raw flesh and an empty eye socket where once there had been a beautiful blue eye.


	2. I'll pick a bunch for your room

I slept beneath a holly bush by the border. I didn’t need shelter, but I didn’t want the stars watching me. Around moonhigh, a rustling vole in the bracken sent me panicking into the thorns. I never fell into a particularly deep sleep, in fear that my dreams would send me back to that day shadowed by the boulders of Snakerocks.

When dawn rose in a rosy blush, I went back to the ThunderClan camp in the old ravine. Brightpaw was still waiting in the split boulder, with Cloudtail by her side. She looked… happy. She’d almost died, almost torn apart along with me, and now she would surely be shunned of a normal life as a warrior, but she was happy by his side. And I smiled.

I sat in the clearing, watching the warriors bustle by. I avoided Cinderpelt when she slipped down the fern tunnel to retrieve a squirrel for her sister, worried that there was a chance that the medicine cat would see me.  _ Funny how that happened, _ I thought darkly,  _ both sisters severely injured after decisions as apprentices. _ I wondered if Cinderpelt regretted falling into Tigerstar’s trap, or if Brightpaw regretted following me.  _ Does Brightpaw blame me? _ I certainly blamed myself. Sitting there as the warriors walked in and out of camp, as apprentices tended to elders, I told myself that this was all my fault.


	3. Green and blue to match your pictures

That night, I sat out at Sunningrocks and tried to think of a way to say something to Brightpaw. A too-small apology tucked on the back of a leaf, a message read into the shaft of a feather, a crystalline stone that glittered with my words.

Before the sun could rise above the moors, I set out for Highstones. I ran as fast as I could, letting the wind blow back black and white fur, tail stretched out and streaming in the wind. I wouldn’t feel the effects of the journey, so why not go at my full speed? Finally, I arrived at the scraggly cliffs where quick-flying birds made their earthy nests. Ignoring the pull back to the glowing Moonstone far back through the tunnels of Mothermouth, I found one of the swifts in a low enough nest to reach, and killed it with a bite to the neck.

Hoping no one would see, I muttered an apology to the rest of StarClan for killing the graceful bird for a sign, and left back for the forest as the sun rose in the brightening sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated! 
> 
> I haven't read the original series for a lonnng time, so think of this as more of a _feeling_ than an accurate canon-compliant representation of the story. Same goes for any out-of-character issues– I just was trying to follow the song as well as I could.
> 
> edit as of feb 1 2021: discontinuing and orphaning this as i've left the warriors fandom. you can read my steven universe fics at [ladyscientist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyscientist).


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